Z-Ray Institute for High Learning
by LKiswriting
Summary: Yuya has been a mess since his father left. His mother decides it'd be best for him to get away from home and sends him to a boarding school. There, his childhood friend Yuzu goes and his 3 mysterious cousins who look like him! But, how does Yuya react when he finds out that the 4 houses of the school, Standard, Exceed, Fusion, and Synchro, are at full on war with each other!
1. Arrival

**(A/N: Hiya! So, I first wanna apologize at how I wrote some of this characters. I think I did it well enough for now. I'm going to try to update regularly, maybe every other Sunday. No promises though, I'm bad at that.**

 **Hope you enjoy!)**

That building was so large, so huge, that it would be impossible to be a school. Somehow, it was. While the train stopped at its stations, Yuya got off. He admired the appearance of his new school from the distance, still being able to see the top of it. There were at least three stories, and it was perhaps it was as wide as the White House, maybe more.

Accounting for the fact that it was a boarding school, the size began to make sense considering the amount of dorms there would be. Yet, it still felt too big. Yuya held his orange back close to his back. The wind blew, and he shivered. It was the middle of winter, the end of the first term. _What a time to transfer schools…_ Yuya thought to himself.

He was wearing a big black jacket, with bright orange sleeves and pockets. His goggles were put on his head, though he knew when he started attending class he wouldn't be allowed to keep them on. Trying to think to the positives, Yuya remember how wonderful this school was said to be! What was its name? It was something strange…

Oh, right! Z-Ray Institute for Higher Learning. Sometimes it was even called Academy instead of Institute.

 _Everyone was saying it's a fancy sort of school, but that tuition isn't that high. That's good!_ Yuya smiled a bit while thinking about it. _Mom told me that Yuzu and Gong went there, that's why she thought it would be a good idea to transfer me here instead of somewhere else. That'll be so great, if we three could be friends again!_

When thinking like that, it was impossible to not get excited. _Gen and the others bully me here, either!_ Yuya looked to the side. _What if here someone knows about… that event, and they do instead of Gen…?_

It took Yuya a second to realize that he was standing in the train doorway while in the midst of his fantasies. The conductor began to yell at him. "Get off or stay on, boy! Pick already!" she exclaimed.

"Ah- I'm so sorry!" Yuya hopped off, standing on the concrete of the station.

The conductor shook his head. "Air-head…" she whispered under her breath before closing the door. Yuya took a deep breath to get his composure back. He looked around.

 _Someone from the school is supposed to pick me up and then bring me to the dorms to show me around campus… it was two students, right? They don't seem to be here yet…_ Yuya thought. _Man, I hope I didn't cause that conductor too much trouble…_

Besides knowing that his childhood friends Yuzu and Gongenzaka attended the school, there were three other boys that Yuya knew had attended his school. Their existence puzzled Yuya immensely, and he hoped they wouldn't think too badly of him when all of them would eventually meet. He didn't know if they'd get along or if any of them would really interact, even.

Yet, he remembered what his mother had said right before he got on the train to leave for school. "Oh, did I tell you about your cousins? There are three of them, Yuto, Yuri, and someone else… hmm; I think his name was Yuqo? Oh, whatever, they go there. They actually look a lot like you!"

Yuya had no knowledge of any cousins of his. Apparently, they must have been related to him by birth and not adoption like the rest of his family like his mother and his missing-in-action father. That must have been the only way they looked like him. Maybe they were his actual cousins, or maybe they were secretly blood brothers. Yuya never really asked much about his birth family, he was too content with his adopted one to really care or think of it as much. Besides, he had grown up with them since he was an infant.

Watching the train leave, Yuya set his bag to the side and sat at the small bench. He looked around to see if there were any students approaching him, and he saw them. _Why aren't they here…?_ He thought as he glanced at the giant clock in the center of the station. Then, Yuya realized something. The guides weren't late, he was early. The train was scheduled for arrival at noon, and there was still a quarter till it.

Yuya pressed his back against the bench, letting the cool metal send chills up his spine. There wasn't any snow; most of it melted the week previous. However, looking up at the full grey clouds and peering at the frost on the train track, it wasn't out of the loop to imagine more coming soon.

"Yuya!"

Nearly fallen out of his bench, Yuya was thrown out of his thoughts when he heard a familiar voice call his name. He jumped up and looked to his right. A wide smile couldn't help but consume his face. "Yuzu, Gongenzaka! Is that you?"

A hug that was so tight that it nearly choked Yuya from a giant Gongenzaka was the answer. "Oh Yuya! I have missed you a great deal!" he exclaimed.

"A-ah! I missed you too!" Yuya responded, panting for breath. "Gon, you're crushing me!"

It was a few moments later that Yuya was able to breathe again. He looked over at him and at Yuzu, who was standing there as well. "It's been so long!" Yuya said.

"Yeah… it has." Yuzu smiled as well. "We're your student guides! We'll show you around campus."

Yuya smiled. It might not be so bad.

There wasn't much he learned about the four houses. Gongenzaka and Yuzu had offered to explain it more, but Yuya decided not to bother with the details for now. The school was split into four houses. Standard House which he had been placed in and Yuzu and Gongenzaka were already. Then there was Fusion House and Synchro House. Finally was Exceed House which was jokingly called X-Y-Z sometimes due to the math leagues all being present there. They were strange names, but the school's name was weird too.

"You have to learn it quick," Yuzu said to him when they arrived at campus after the car ride there. "It's not exactly something easy." She looked over to Gongenzaka, as a 'should we tell' glance.

Gongenzaka shrugged. "Yuya, there's also something else you need to know…"

"Yeah, can you tell me after lunch? I'm starving! I didn't eat breakfast, the food at the station stop before I got here sucked! Do they have pancakes here?" Yuya asked staring at the huge school, with excitement and anticipation in his voice.

"Yuya! You can't just slack off and eat, this is serious!" Yuzu exclaimed.

Yuya giggled. It seemed like the two of them's dynamic hadn't changed in the years they had been separated. "We can talk serious later, c'mon," he walked into the school, looking around the giant halls. "Is this the seriously a school?! It's bigger than anything I've ever seen! It'd take five of me stacked on top of each other to reach the roof!"

"Yuya!" Yuzu called.

"When do you plan on telling him that he's going the wrong way to the cafeteria?" Gongenzaka asked Yuzu. She sighed a bit. Both of them hoped that Yuya wouldn't cause trouble before he knew _the thing_ about the school houses.

The cafeteria smelled like waffles and blueberries. It seemed it was a lunch period for some of the students in class. Yuya wondered if it was okay for him to come here right away instead of at registration like he had told to, but decided that no one had said he couldn't.

There were several dozen lunch tables in the cafeteria that was as large as two normal-sized school lunch rooms put together and then some. The walls were painted dark purple, with banners on each side with a school house name, written in silver bubble letters that shined radiantly.

A clear row of panel windows were placed in the corners, green grass and vegetation glowing on the other side with sunlight pouring in, there wasn't even a need for artificial light inside. The golden light reflecting off of the people sitting inside and on their tables, making everyone gleam and look positively perfect no matter whom they were.

This place seemed too beautiful and perfect to be true. Perhaps life really _could_ get better attending here!

Yuya smiled at this display and continued to walk forward. People were talking among themselves in their cliques and friend groups. For some reason, no one seemed to move from their tables besides to throw away or grab food. Normally, that'd be fine. Yet somehow it seemed strange how everyone refused to go to the other side of the room, maybe even eyeing the other people that they weren't near.

Yuya didn't really notice that, his attention was more on getting in the lunch line to get some food. He had run ahead of Yuzu and Gongenzaka by a long-shot. They were having trouble catching up with the energetic little tomato. Yuya had intended of getting in line and waiting for Yuzu and Gongenzaka there, but something caught his eye and stopped that plan.

When arriving, Yuya had been told to wear a pin on his shirt that said 'New' to show that he was a new arrival. Everyone else was wearing different pins. The cliques seemed to be related to their school houses, represented by the pins they wore. Yuya looked around, studying all of them.

On the side of the cafeteria where the 'Standard' banner was hanging, all of the kids who seemed to be from that house wore a pin that said 'Stand.' Similarly, on the Synchro banner side, everyone's house pin was 'Sync.' The Fusion's side had 'Fuse.' and Exceed's had the house nickname 'XYZ.' Yuya blinked. He recalled Yuzu and Gongenzaka wearing 'Stand.' ones, implying their house.

Was everyone regulated to sit only at their house? That didn't seem right, it definitely something more...

Yuya could sense the tension every time people with different pins looked at each other. Mostly, it was with the Exceed kids and the Fusion kids, but everyone had it to an extent. In fact, they all looked different to each other. Yuya couldn't describe it at first, however, if he had to, he would say the Fusion kids just looked… _nicer_.

Not by their kindness, no, in that they looked sort of rude, but how they dressed. The Synchro kids were split between looking nice and neat and rough and rowdy. The Exceed kids, well they all just looked punk. Standard, however, they were their own breed. They were all so unique to each other, like how normal people would dress and act.

What was with this house divide? Was this what Yuzu and Gong had been trying to tell Yuya? He felt uneasy. While no one looked at him oddly, in fact, everyone other than the spiteful looking Fusion kids seemed inviting when they say the 'New' pin on him. Yuya didn't know how to react. Perhaps it was coincidence. Maybe it was only the kids he glanced at that seemed to not like the others.

Finally, something topped the cake of oddness in that cafeteria.

Someone with blue hair with a yellow fringe went to sit down in the Synchro side, as that seemed to be his house. Yuya's attention was brought to him. He was one of the rougher looking Synchro kids, with a short-sleeved t-shirt that were tattered and a sleeveless hoodie over that. His jeans were faded and ripped a bit, with long boots over that. When the boy turned around to sit, Yuya was alarmed.

That Synchro kid looked exactly like himself!

Yuya was taken aback. _H-how…? W-what…?_ He thought. _M-mom did say that I had those cousins and that they looked a lot like me… but… did she mean EXACTLY like me?! HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!_ He wondered if all of the cousins looked exactly like him. Yuya had the urge to get out of the lunch line and to go to that Synchro kid, his 'cousin.'

After building up the courage for a moment, he stepped away from the lunch line and walked over the Synchro side. Yuya walked up to him, and the blue and yellow haired kid looked at him. "Um, hi," Yuya said. "I'm new here… and before I came here my mom said three of my cousins came here, and you look _a lot_ like me, so I'm guessing you're one of them…?"

"Huh, oh yeah. They mentioned that another one of us was coming. Hopefully you're the last one at least. I can't stand the rest of the fam." The Synchro boy replied. He didn't seem at all surprised at the close resemblance. That confirmed it to Yuya; all of them looked exactly alike. How else would the Synchro boy not freak out?

Yuya smiled a bit. At least the boy who looked like him didn't act mean to him. "My name's Yuya. What's yours?" he asked. "Mom mentioned all of your names before I left, uh, is your name any of the ones I'm thinking of? Yuto, Yuri… and umm, Yuqo?"

A vein practically popped out of the blue and yellow boy's forehead. He became red with flustered rage. Yuya became extremely frightened by this. "My. Name. Is. YUGO!" Yugo screamed out loud. Yuya stepped back, worried a bit.

"I-I'm sorry, my mom, uh- she couldn't remember your name and that's what she said." Yuya responded.

"Ohhh she remembers those asses Yuri and Yuto's name?" Yugo exclaimed. "I ain't either of those bastards; I wouldn't want to be either of those, ESPECIALLY the bastard called Yuri!" He glared at the other side of the room where the Fusion kids sat.

There was an entire section of the Fusion kids that became silent and stared back at Yugo. In the center, was another boy that closely resembled Yuya and Yugo, most likely the Yuri that had been mentioned. His hair was violet, with pink underneath. He cocked an eyebrow, and smirked a bit. "Oh, so there's the other one?" Yuri said while looking at Yuya. He completely ignored Yugo which enraged him.

Some parts of the cafeteria continued on with their business, but a good portion had become silent to watch the fight. "Hey, what about me?!" Yugo yelled loudly so Yuri could hear him clearly.

"Who cares about some stupid Synchro junk when you have fresh meat that could potentially become Fusion House? Though, he doesn't look bright enough." Yuri said. "The only people lower than Synchro is Exceed kids." he mentioned.

"H-hey, that's not nice…" Yuya nervously said in a quiet tone that was easily ignored. He would be lying if he was saying that he didn't feel panicked.

At a response to Exceed comment made by Yuri, a tall boy who must've been a year or two older than Yuya and wore a purple coat ran to the front of the Exceed House section. All of the Exceed kids had become quiet and furiously stared at the Fusion kids who glared at them with a cocky presence.

"We don't need some jackass Fusion kid telling us we're lower. We know you're the real scum at the bottom of the barrel." The tall boy exclaimed. "You won't be acting so high and mighty when we crush your house!"

"Oh, I'd like to see you try." Yuri snickered evilly at that. A ginger boy with a mole under his eyes stood next to Yuri. Yuri had been perched on the lunch table, sitting on top of it gracefully.

The ginger boy seemed to be Yuri's friend within the Fusion house. He put his elbow on Yuri's shoulder like a friend would and then laughed a bit at the purple coated Exceed boy. "Mmm, c'mon Shun! Don't be such a sour-puss!" he exclaimed.

The purpled coat wearing boy's name seemed to be Shun. "Exceed will crush you two and your house! We're superior to you, even to Synchro and Standard. We'll bet you all in the house war!"

"Why are you bringing Synchro into your two house's shit again?!" Random Synchro kids screamed from the house. A few Standards' did the same thing, though for the most part they tried to ignore them and slowly moved out of the lunch room for cover.

Yuya had no idea what he had just started by saying one incorrect name. All of the Exceed and Fusion kids started getting up and random amounts of Synchro kids, mostly the rowdy looking ones stood up too. And soon enough there was a fight. Mostly it was with food, but in a few cases with the Exceed and Fusion cases there were fists. Some of the angrier Synchro kids like Yugo did the same.

Yuya stared at the conflict with horror as he slowly backed into the door. _H-HOUSE WAR?!_ He thought nervously. Perhaps this place wasn't so perfect looking after all...


	2. Ally

**(A/N: I just realized that Yuya and Yuto are related so I can't ship them goddamn it my counterpartshipping is ruined. Well then. At least I can still have my darkrebelshipping. Any and all counterpartshipping is all platonic, unfortunately.**

 **Also I am trying for every Sunday for an update but judging that this either comes out on Sunday night or Monday morning depending how speedy I am uhhhh no promisesss so far…**

 **Let's aim for every other Sunday, shall we?**

 **Also to mention, this is planned to be an ongoing, so it's probably going to run very long with way too much characters and stuff. I wanna try to make my interpretations of ALL of the characters, or at least all the ones I liked. Let's see how that turns out.)**

Yuya had no clear what was going on all around him. All he knew was that bunches of students from other school houses were throwing things in each other's faces as a response to the house war. Yuya couldn't help but feel this fight had been started by him. _Ah, if I didn't call Yugo the wrong name…_ he tried to think.

It was difficult to keep his mind in track as everything went on. Was that baloney just thrown into someone's face? Oh look, the pretty Exceed girl with short hair just became covered in soup. Hm, the Fusion boy that threw it at her was being punched in the face by a red headed Exceed boy as revenge-

Wait, what?!

When the quarrel in the cafeteria became more than just a food fight, the panic inside of Yuya began. He found himself alone, not knowing where to turn or where to go. No worries…. The teachers would break it up sooner or later… right? They had to, they had to, why weren't they coming already?

Those perfect looking wall was splattered with tomato sauce, pizza crusts and brownie crumbs. The beautiful silver lettered banners were purposefully damaged. A group of Fusion children had thrown strawberry milk cartons and orange juice to splatter the Exceed's banner. The silver became a disgusting brown at the 'E' and the 'x' while the rest of it was grabbed by kids standing on tables who ripped it down.

As pay back, the Exceed children took to ripping the Fusion banner right down and beginning to shred it to pieces. The fabric went all over the tables, as different Fusion and Exceed kids began fighting with each other.

Before anyone could take Synchro's house banner could be taken, some of the fancier looking Synchro kids took it down gently. Those Synchro kids weren't fighting, it was mostly the rowdier looking ones that did that. The fancier ones tried to sneak away with the banner, hoping no one would spot them. Of course, the rest of their house did.

"Hey! Aren't we supposed to be all together?! Why do you rich kids always take what's for all of us in this house?!" Some of the rowdier Synchro kids exclaimed at them as they tried to take the banner back. There were tears forming in the middle of it now as the well-dressed ones tried to yank it back to them. "You're all worse than the Fusion kids! Pick whose side you're on!"

"Why are you trying to take the house banner?! It's OURS- you can't have it!"

The divides in the school seemed to be clear. Standard students tried to stay out of the house war and sneak off. Exceed and Fusion was in the midst of a war. Synchro was involved too, against Fusion but it didn't seem they'd be Exceed's allies, if only the Synchro house wasn't a house divided.

Yuya backed up into a wall, too frightened to even react. How was this school supposed to be better?! He kept to the wall, confusion and bewilderment taking over him. One thing, however, that took Yuya out of his daze was a sight to behold.

There were exceptions in every side, the few children who were trying to not get involved in the house war and either tried to hide or escape. A few of the younger looking Fusion children didn't seem too happy that their house acted the way they did, and hid underneath the tables to wait for it all to be over. Shun seemed to not care who they were, just that they had a pin on them showing they were Fusion house.

"Hey Fusion kids, don't hide!"

Shun didn't seem to care that they were trying to escape the violence and tipped over the table above them. Perhaps he was going to target and attack them, perhaps all he was going to do was throw them out of the cafeteria, Yuya couldn't be sure. But when he had seen it occurring, Yuya knew he wasn't going to be able to just stand around afraid like before.

The next few minutes were a blur. Yuya recalled going forward to try to stop Shun and him _definitely_ not appreciating it. Then, Shun suddenly stopped and stared and Yuya puzzlingly. Yuya didn't get why, the two never met before. Shun must've noticed him earlier, right? _It was my fault this fight started, and besides, he must've noticed Yuri pointing me out…_ he thought.

After that, there was a blackness that appeared out of nowhere and nothing was in sight anymore. Yuya couldn't tell what was going on anymore, and was half sure that he was going unconscious. Maybe someone hit him in the head while he was distracted, though that didn't seem to be so.

Yuya woke up again in one of the hallways. It was dark there. The ground was gray and cold, tiled with white speckles. The walls were supposed to be white, but were wearing down to ugly yellows and grays, strains at random points. Dark blue walls covered the halls, large ones that could fit a whole person, and sometimes when the war's battles started, they did. But for now, books and papers were all inside.

There were dull lights on the roofs, giving off weak rays. It must have begun to rain at a point because the panels of windows in the hallways above the lockers were wet and didn't give any light off. For the most part, the hallways were cast in long shadows where the light couldn't reach. Yuya shivered, he found himself sitting on the floor with no recollection of what happened with Shun or in the cafeteria.

From far away, Yuya could still hear loud screams and fighting going on, but it was clear that the fight was ending. He was definitely a ways off from the cafeteria at this point, yet the loudest screams were from teachers and security finally coming to break up the fight. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened and it seemed the teachers were sick and tired of it. Maybe that's why they took so long to come.

"You were about to face Shun when he was angry. You are either the bravest person I have met, or the stupidest." A voice called out.

Yuya was startled and made an 'eep' sound while jumping. He threw himself up and mistakenly hit his head on the locker behind him. "O-ouch…" Yuya mumbled.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." Someone came up to him. The person was as tall as he was, and was the third person Yuya had seen that day with his face. At last, the third and final 'cousin' Yuya would have to meet. His hair was spiked up with black in the back and a light purple in the front.

He looked sort of punk like, with a dark green shirt, black tie, black jeans, and black wristbands with silver spikes on them. This one looked dark and harsh, but with friendly warmth behind gray eyes. "My name is Yuto," he said. "So, I'm guessing this isn't what you were expecting on your first day?"

"N-not at all…" Yuya replied, looking at Yuto. He definitely wouldn't say Yuto's name wrong. Yuto looked different to Yugo, but he didn't want to take that risk again. "Why… why are the houses at war?" Yuya glanced at Yuto's pin, finding out he was an Exceed. He had a cousin in each house, except for Standard.

Yuto made a fist. "'Cas the Fusion wanted it," he said. "How much do you know about the houses? Probably not a lot?" he sat down next to Yuya.

"Umm, I know that there is four. Standard, Fusion, Synchro, and Exceed." Yuya responded. "Pretty weird house names, if you ask me… is there a reason why they're like that?"

"It relates to what each house represents. I'm Exceed, and our house motto is we 'exceed' expectations, hence the name. Our house got nicknamed 'X-Y-Z' though; there are a lot of math leagues in here. If you're sorted into the Exceed House, it basically means you're above level on high-ranked courses like math, English, science, you get it, right? We might look like punks but we're more, which is what the Fusion kids don't see."

Yuya let the information sink in, taking mental notes. "What are Fusion kids? They were dressed nice, but looked sort of stuck up. Are they rich or something?"

"Yeah, they're rich alright. They've also been ranked high in the same courses that us Exceed are. Their house motto is that they 'fuse' with the class material. They think they're _better_ than us with higher scores and that are not just better at high ranked classes but the arts too. They're stuck up and wanna destroy the other houses. Fusion kids start fights and since they're rich their families pay off the school and _we_ get blamed."

"Huh?! That's not exactly fair!" Yuya frowned. "Well, I can see why you don't seem to like them. But that guy, uh- purple coat… Shun was it? I don't think it was very right for him to go after the ones hiding."

Yuto looks away. "Shun's my friend. He gets out of control and carried away at times though, I and his sister Ruri usually keep him in check. But, his anger is understandable. Fusion kids cause us a lot of trouble and Synchro kids are too stupid and self-divided to even help out. They made _us_ their rivals too, even though if we worked together we could get rid of the trouble making ones. Ugh…"

"It doesn't really make much sense for everyone to be fighting like that." Yuya sternly said. "Even if the Fusion kids act like jerks, it's still not right… not all of them are like that, right? And being so aggressive… when everyone fights with fire then doesn't everyone get burnt too?" he optimistically added.

Yuto liked the idea of everything being resolved without this aggression, however, he did not believe it could happen. He was too realistic and had attended this school far too long for it. Thing were so much simpler before he came to Z-Ray High. The same could be said for anyone, really. "Uh-huh, how do you suppose we do that? It's a nice idea, but it ain't happening. Especially since the jerk known as Yuri wouldn't let it, like the other Fusion kids." he mentioned.

"Well, if we could all be happy together, wouldn't everyone like it better that way…? I'm sure everyone has common ground…" Yuya sighed. "Even if they did, you're right, it's not that easy… but you don't seem to believe in this war either, right?"

Yuto sighed a bit as well. "Not really, no. But it's not like we can make sunshine, rainbows and make everyone smile and 'no war', not that easy. I stick to my house and I don't abandon my friends. When you get sorted into a house, I suggest you do the same thing- hey, what was your name? I didn't catch it."

"I'm Yuya." Yuya smiled a bit. "It's nice to meet you by the way, Yuto. You're the first kid I met at the school besides my old pals who didn't yell or fight!" he exclaimed. Yuto chuckled a bit.

"I'm glad I made a good first impression. You're just lucky I got to you and saved you in time. You wouldn't like Shun when he's angry. I think he was a bit puzzled by the fact you uh- look like me. He can tell me apart from the rest of our 'cousins' but can't tell them apart from each other."

"W-will people not be able to tell us apart? That wouldn't be good." Yuya didn't like the idea of that happening.

"Probably, just get something to be able to tell you a part. Like a signature. I wear this black cape around as my factor. Yugo has that bike of his, and Yuri doesn't really do anything other than wear fancy rich ass clothes. Maybe you could get a necklace or something."

Yuya smiled a bit. "I think I have something in mind… it'll help." he said. Yuya frowned again though, thinking of everything with the war. "Can I ask a question about this?"

"Of course, what is it?"

"Back in the lunchroom, the Fusion and X-Y-Z kids were fighting with each other, and Synchro was trying to be its own side, but it seemed to be fighting each other. Why is that?"

"'Cas Synchro is honestly just as divided as the houses are. It must as well be two separate ones." Yuto explained. "Synchro 'syncs' into traditional subjects and specializes in different things. Turning English classes into Journalism, let's say. A lot of them go into math and become engineers too. Most of the rich kids are all in Fusion, but a good portion of them,"

Yuto took a breath. "The rest of them though, they're actually the exact opposite. There are a couple of the ordinary middle class kids in Synchro house, but so many of them are from poorer areas here on mechanic scholarships. So there is some class divides, middle class usually sticks with the poorer ones though because of how pompous and self obsessed rich kids here tend to be."

"E-everyone is so extreme here... can't they all just get along? They're all even in one house, yet even that isn't easy…" Yuya looked up at the roof. "Hey, do you think it's possible for someone to unite the houses?"

Yuto thought about it. "Not really. Fusion kids are too dense and twisted."

Yuya paused. "But it's a nice thing to aspire to, don't you think?" he said. He had made his decision.

"I guess so, if you like thinking of false optimism." Yuto responded. There was silence. Even the riot in the lunchroom far away had calmed down; most likely the school security had assured that by now. Footsteps and wind from outside were heard and the faint light from a cloudy, rainy evening came. The mist from the cold was sticking to the glass with droplets on top of it. Every once in awhile, you heard the droplets leak in the creeks of the poorly constructed window and onto the top of the long lockers.

Yuya tapped his foot with an almost _excited_ tone, which puzzled Yuto extremely. "I think it could happen. We just gotta believe." Yuya mentioned. "I think if we keep smiling and try to spread smiling to everyone maybe it'll make them happy, even if it were just a day! We should try as things go on! You're a really nice person, Yuto. I know you are because of everything you've done for me so far, so I bet you want something like that too?"

Yuto looked away. "It's not exactly that simple. But… I would love it if it were that way." he said. "But I guess since your family and your actually decent unlike Yuri and Yugo, I'll help you out whenever I can." he smiled a bit. "Don't forget though, I put my own house over everything else. You might be family, but Shun, despite how angry he can be, and Ruri are like my family too."

"Understandable…" Yuya said. He looked around again before his stomach let out an intense growl. Yuto looked at him strangely. "I still didn't get food like I wanted though, and I guess I have to go to the office or something for registration and all that."

"Oh, well umm…" Yuto looked in his bag and found some food. He tossed it to Yuya. "It's not much, just an apple and a piece of bread, but it should hold you over until the next food bell. There usually aren't two fights in one day, so you don't have to worry about that." he said. "I can take you to the office if you want. You probably don't know the school well yet, right?"

Yuya smiled immensely at his cousin's kindness and bit into the apple and bread right away. The bread was a bit stale, but he didn't really mind it much. "Thanks a ton!" he exclaimed with his mouth full with the fruit and the wheat. "I would take your offer, but I should find my friends here. They're my guides and are probably worried about me now, so I'll be on my way!"

"I'll be around if you need it. Yuya, right?" Yuto said, standing up and sticking his hands in his pockets.

Yuya stood up from the lockers and smiled. "Yeah! See ya around, Yuto!" he exclaimed.

"See ya around," And they turned in opposite directions.


	3. Progression

**((A/N: I'm so, so sorry for the long gap for updates!**

 **I'm sorry this isn't too long, either. I'm working on chapter four, hopefully that won't take too long. I'm hoping to finish it by April 30th.))**

"Yuya, where have you been?!" Yuzu exclaimed after she finally found him in the hall. There were no longer any sounds coming from the cafeteria, everything was officially over. At last the teachers and security guards had stepped in, and numerous students were being detained in detention. It was notable though that none of the kids in detention were in the Fusion house. Even for the Synchro kids, the ones of higher class didn't have to worry about being in trouble. "I've been so worried about you, especially because of the fight! I thought maybe someone could've knocked you in!"

Yuya tried to smile and scratched the back of his head. "Well, I think someone probably would have. But, another kid helped me and he explained most of the war to me. I gotta say, this really is some school," he replied, trying to add some humor into the situation.

"What, who was that?" Yuzu asked, still worried, yet curious.

The hallway was empty, though by the ticking clock the end of the period soon came, and students would flood the halls in five minutes. Yuzu knew this, and grabbed Yuya's wrist and starting walking. "We'll talk and walk at the same time. You have to get to the office and check in, something you should've done before running into the cafeteria,"

"I was hungry. Whatever," Yuya mentioned. "It was one of my cousins, a kid who looked like me! He's in the Exceed house, named Yuto. Do you know him?"

"Yuto? I've seen him a little bit; he's nice I guess. We don't talk. He's friends with my birth cousin Ruri. Though I don't talk to my relatives much either, except Serena."

"Do you have a bunch of 'cousins' here, too?"

"Yep, probably around the same amount as you, one in each house. There's me in Standard, Serena in Fusion, Ruri in Exceed, and then Rin in Synchro. You're about the same, right?" Yuzu took a deep breath. "I'm so glad you go here, it was so weird to see people who looked like you but weren't you, especially since we hadn't talked in awhile."

Yuya had forgotten how much alike he and Yuzu were at times. They were both adopted in the same house and never knew their birth parents, though had found three people called cousins, who were most likely simply siblings that were called cousins for the sake of concealing birth family ties. It felt nice to be able to be with Yuzu again, even if in such a peculiar place.

 _Maybe instead of cousins me, Yuto, Yuri, and uh… Yugo I think, are just identical twins. Umm, what would that be if there were four? Quadruplets?_ Yuya thought.

"-...Yuya! Are you even listening to me?!"

Yuya perked his head up and looked at Yuzu dragging him next to two giant wooden doors with a golden sign that said 'Main Office' on it. He had become so entrenched his thoughts he didn't even realize that they had arrived. The doors were giant, something a seven foot man could easily slip into. They were made of the finest wood with the shiniest bronze handle, and not a scratch in place.

"What? Oh no sorry," Yuya shrugged it off with a giggle, and Yuzu slapped the back of his head a bit. "Ow!"

"Pay attention, I was telling you something important! You know, if you listened to me when we were talking about the houses before we got here a lot of this could've been avoided!" Yuzu responded.

Yuya bit his lip and nervously laughed in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Well yeah, but you know, it is what it is. I'll do better next time!"

Yuzu sighed and her tone softened. "I'm worried about you. This isn't exactly an easy school to be in. Even the people who actively try to avoid the house war get roped in and hurt. When you go into the office, they're probably going to tell you what house they put you in. I just hope it ends up being Standard like me, we get to avoid the house war the _most_ …. for now, at least."

"Hmm, I'm not sure I wanna avoid it per say. I wanna avoid the violence, that's for sure. Don't wanna get hurt at all," Yuya began. "But I definitely wanna be in it, just so I can maybe help out a bit! Maybe if everyone cooled their heads and smiled a lot more this school would because as awesome as it looks from the outside!" he completed, with a wide grin on his face.

With a smile like that on Yuya, Yuzu couldn't help but smile a bit too, and shook her head. "Oh Yuya, you're too optimistic, you know that?" she asked.

"Well duh, how else am I supposed to do the good stuff if I don't believe in them?"

Yuzu rolled her eyes. "We'll talk more about that later. For right now, you have to meet with the principal. This time when I talk, listen because it'll help." she said. "The principal is a bit cold and harsh, she's Mrs. Himika Akaba, but don't get too intimidated by her. She's going to tell you what your house, dorm, and dorm mate if you have one. I have to go to class now, there's only so long I'm allowed to skip for you. You're probably going to have to go to your dorm and start classes later this week. Got it?"

"Got it!" Yuya waved goodbye. "See ya Yuzu, good luck in your classes! If you see Gong, tell him I said hi!"

Yuya burst into the main office doors, not expecting much. In a few minutes, he found himself sitting in a metal chair in front of a perfectly made, wooden desk. Everyone on it, from the golden-plated name tag, computer and keyboard, and cup of pencils were perfectly organized.

There wasn't much lighting; it was utterly dark in there. The raindrops covered the window behind the desk. A rose bush could be seen, dark and heavy with a drink of water. It was amazing that they were living in the cold winter, yet this entire school was so amazing no one questioned it. Yuya stared at it for awhile; thinking the color of his blood matched these roses perfectly. He wondered if this school had a gardening club.

After a moment, the principal came in and sat at her large, maroon chair. She was tall and pale, with her shoulder perfectly straight and always standing long. "Thank you for waiting. My name is Mrs. Akaba, welcome to Z-Ray Institute for Higher Learning," she said with a strong voice.

Yuya swallowed all the spit in his mouth, understanding what Yuzu had meant earlier with her being intimidating. She seemed so confident, this woman should've been more than just a high school principal, even an elite one like this. "Ah- thank you…" he replied softly, smiling to be polite and to comfort himself.

She had brought a tan document file with pure white papers inside. Yuya saw it said his name on the side. It made sense why she brought it with her, then. Looking through it, Mrs. Akaba typed on her computer speedily. The tapping sounds kept going on and on, quickly and quicker. "So, Mr. Sakaki, you've been sorted into the Standard house," she said.

Yuya held in a sigh of relief. He could be in the same house as Yuzu.

The principal handed him a few papers, a pin, and a dorm key. "This is your student handbook, a map of the school, and your student I.D. Wear your pin with your new student pin for a week to indicate your new status, but after that period just wear your house pin like an ordinary student," she said. Yuya clipped on the pin that said 'Stand.' on it on his chest. "Your dorm is in the boys' dormitory, Standard wing, room A5. You have one dorm mate. No pets, parties, drugs, you know."

"Okay, A5, I can remember that," he said as he held his things close to him.

"And, I understand that you were in the lunchroom at the time of the recent development," Mrs. Akaba mentioned.

"Oh… uh, yeah…"

"I want you to understand that this is not the sort of thing that this school endorses. At Z-Ray Institute we hold a very high form. We expect you to uphold that and not participate with other students' nonsense. If so, you will fall with them. We do not condone a house war."

Yuya, knowing what he knew, mentally rolled his eyes. _Yeah, right._ He thought. "I understand."

"Good. Just in case you are hungry, you may go to the cafeteria for the last lunch period of the day. Afterwards, report your dorm. Tomorrow you will begin your classes; your schedule is in your student handbook. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes you do, Mrs. Akaba."

Yuya was so glad to finally get out of there. He walked back to the cafeteria. Somehow those stunning banners were back on the wall perfect already, and the janitors managed to clean every food that had gotten on the wall, off. _Maybe they have spare banners, I mean, from the way that this school sounds like, it doesn't seem out of the realm of plausibility,_ Yuya thought.

He stared at the Standard banner on the wall next to him, and then looked down on his pin that said 'Stand.' next to the one that said 'New.' _A house war where people get hurt isn't right, I just know it._ He thought as he bit into a hamburger. _Dad, I don't know where you are, but trust me, I'm going to help bring smiles and peace to this school._

After his lunch, Yuya went on his way outside of the lunchroom where it all had begun. It felt like it had been longer than just a couple hours since he got off that train in the station, and although this place was scary and he was unsure, he had to admit he was beginning to feel like he was getting his head wrapped around it.


	4. Strength

**((A/N: I'm sorry if this isn't as good as the previous chapters. I have better plans later on for the story, but at this point it's sort of cloudy.**

 **Also I love duskshipping and dartshipping as this chapter will show.))**

"Have you been watching his this whole time?" Dennis asked, as he came up to Yuri who was outside the doors of the main office when he should be in class. Nobody would dare try to get them in trouble. Not only were they in the impregnable Fusion house, but Yuri was infamous one. He was powerful, with connections that not even the highest ranking Fusion house member knew.

Dennis did though, the two were close comrades in this house war that Yuri seemed to be winning. There was always a trick up his sleeve, something he could do to mess with the other houses' enough to cause them annoyance, or to cause real damage that they'd take months trying to reverse. Even through all of his deeds, some of them lowly and petty, there was a certain posh class he brought to the equation. Dennis knew well that some of the graffiti that ruined the other houses' walls and kids trapped in lockers unable to join a fight to defend their house was some of Yuri's actions, but how could anyone accuse someone who looked of the highest standards to do such things?

Yuri turned to Dennis when he came up to him and smirked slyly when he spoke. "Hmm, who knows?" he retorted in a condescending tone.

"C'mon Yuri, you know I'm not stupid like the others," Dennis replied, chuckling a bit. He snapped his fingers and winked quickly. "I know. You probably used your connections with some of the professors of the school to get a hold of your cousin's file?"

Yuri looked back at the giant main office doors before responding, staring at them. Then, he put his hand on his sides and began to walk through the giant empty hallways. Dennis followed behind him patiently waiting for a reply. "I admit that Yuya is a tad more boring than I originally thought. Though, you might like him. You do have horrible tastes after all,"

"I must have horrible tastes to be hangin' around you all the time," Dennis joked.

"As I was saying," Yuri responded as he rolled his eyes as his eyes. "It truly is a shame that Yuya has been placed in the Standard house, but at least we have not made a new enemy for now that way. I am intrigued with some of what I read in his file. He's a theater kid like you are, and seems to be a pacifist at first. Despite this, he had reported outbursts in his last school which caused him to want to transfer."

"Outburst? Like what?"

"To quote the file as I remember it, 'Mr. Sakaki is normally a light-hearted, kind student, however, on numerous occasions he is known to break out in fits of despair and rage where he lashes out violently to his peers. Due to these actions he was dropped from the school play and drama club. When attending school guidance sessions, he shows much regret and remorse, as if he were not meaning to lash out in the first place _,'_ or some words along those lines."

Dennis rolled his eyes at that point as well as he chuckled. _Leave it to Yuri to memorize an entire paragraph from a file after reading it only once or twice,_ he thought. "That's good to know though. A kid who wants to be peaceful but gets angry to the point he switched school? Maybe I can help him out; after all, we are both theater kids. And who knows? Maybe I can make him sympathetic to our side. We do need a spy on the Standard side. That house is getting off too easy, and we need to show them who's boss." he replied.

His motives weren't _entirely_ selfish. Dennis did feel bad for Yuya and wanted to help him, but he wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to help his house's cause out. Even if he did think they swayed a bit wrong at times, he would do anything to protect his house. They were like his family, especially Yuri. He couldn't remember how long the two had been comrades, certainly longer than this house war was going on. And Dennis knew Yuri in ways that others didn't.

"I am surprised at you, Macfield," Yuri mentioned. "I thought you would be more interested with his last name. Were you not a big fan of that actor, Yushou Sakaki?"

Dennis paused. "No. Way." he replied. "I thought it was a coincidence. That kid can't be the kid of my favorite actors that went missing?! And you didn't tell me earlier?!"

"I thought you were to notice, but I doubted your stupidity at times,"

"Yuri, c'mon! You know how much I admire Yushou!" Dennis exclaimed. "I wonder whatever happened to him," he mentioned.

"The fate of a troubled, missing actor doesn't really matter at the moment. What matters right now is my cousin who was adopted by him by birth." Yuri looked down the hallway. "I believe later I might go and give him a visit. Call it a family gathering," he grinned. "I want to see how strong he really is, and if he truly is worth the trouble I'm planning for him."

Dennis smiled too, though a bit innocent looking. Even he didn't know how deep that innocent looking smile was, or how much trickery it took to forge it on him. It was worth it in the end, anyway.

Later on in the day, Yuya realizes it would take longer than he thought it would to find the dormitory. Even with a map of the school in his hands, the confusing halls that were made to be square-like and how long it took to get there made wandering a nightmare. He finally managed to find them, but only after the school day had ended and all he had to do was follow the kids going to the Standard Boys' dormitory anyway.

After finding the dormitory, it didn't take too much longer for him to find his room. "Room A-5," Yuya said, reading the number on the door. He took a deep breath, preparing himself if he were to find his dorm mate in this room. "Alright, here I go…" he told himself.

When he opened the door with his silver key, Yuya saw a mess. Clothes were sprung everywhere with a tipped over bag next to the bed. There was a bunk bed on the side next to an open window which was completely soaked. Finally, the place was lit with a lamp that was on a computer desk with an expensive looking laptop on it. There was a boy sitting at that desk.

He turned around and looked at Yuya. "Huh- Yugo I told you I am not paying you any-" he then stopped and stared at Yuya closely. "Wait, you're not Yugo, are you? You don't look much like the others either..."

"Uh- no," Yuya weakly replied. "Umm, I'm new here, my name is Yuya! Yugo and the others are my cousins. I'm going to be your dorm mate. It's nice to meet you!" he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, hoping it'd go well.

The boy scowled as he tossed his hair into the air. "The great Sawatari requires no roommate!" he exclaimed.

"Well uh- we don't really have a choice in the matter; I've already been assigned to this room." Yuya replied. "Could I come in?"

"Ugh, whatever. Do what you wish." The boy, seemingly named Sawatari, put his hand out and ushered Yuya away from him before going back to his desk. He was clicking through screens of sites upon sites, none of which Yuya recognized.

 _This isn't going to be so much fun…_ Yuya thought as he walked into the room and closed the door. _Try to think positively; maybe he's just having a bad day? I mean, no one likes having a dorm mate when they didn't previously._ He came in and put his bag next to the bunk bed. "Which bed is mine?"

"Well you know, they're BOTH mine after all, but I suppose in earnest, kind demeanor I shall let you take the top bunk!" Sawatari proclaimed while bending in his chair backwards as he ran his fingers through his hair. At the same time Sawatari grinned greatly with smugness.

 _What is this guy, a male model?_ Yuya wondered as he stared at the peculiar boy.

Seeing Yuya stare at him, Sawatari began to chuckle with pride. "I see you are bewitched with the great Sawatari's appearance, it is alright. Most people are!" he exclaimed. "Especially the ladies, within my greatness women flock to my feet! Truly, it must be an honor for you to be in my presence in my dorm!"

"Y-your dorm…?" Yuya repeated. He sighed, shaking it off. _Will this guy shut up?_ He thought. Desperate to change the subject before Sawatari went off again, suspecting that an ego trip wasn't far off. "Uh, you mentioned Yugo earlier. You confused me for him at first, I think. Are you friends with my cousin?"

"Ah- Yugo, yes," Sawatari sat up again, losing a bit of the flamboyant charm much to Yuya's relief. "I remember when I was in the big projection of Romeo and Juliet for the school, I was Romeo of _course_ , he worked back stage and we met through there. I think he was only there to be with his friend Rin, I don't know. But even after he decided to stop coming to rehearsals we talked a bit. Yugo's a cool person,"

"He is?"

"Don't you know your own cousins?"

Yuya paused. "Well I mean I didn't even know they existed until right before I came to this school." he mentioned while looking down a bit. He sighed and climbed the ladder to the top bunk and lay down. _It's been such a long day…_ he thought. Yuya rolled over and tried to go to sleep.

Even after a lot that had happened, and even if he was feeling more confident about the whole situation than he was before, it would nice to have a nap after so much. It was hard to go to sleep though when your new roommate kept going on about how splendid he was and how everyone knew him in the best light. "God, is everyone at this school completely insane?" Yuya whispered under his breath.

Yuya turned around from staring at the wall to tell Sawatari that he didn't really care for what he had to say, and to be quiet so he could sleep after such day. Before he could though, he stopped and stared while raising an eyebrow. "S-Sawatari… where…? How…?" he tried to ask.

Sawatari, who was now out of his seat, was making action poses with one hand on his forehead and the other on his hip. "Oh! The spectacular Sawatari can do so much!" he exclaimed as a mystically appearing pose of boys came behind him and pointed at him for emphasis.

"The amazing Shingo Sawatari!" the pose of boys echoed.

"WHERE DID THEY EVEN COME FROM?! NO ONE CAME INSIDE, SAWATARI HOW DID YOU-" Yuya began to scream.

"No one else in this school is as beautiful, as talented, and as extraordinary as-" Sawatari began as he flashed around the room in different positions while running his fingers through his hair.

"-the STUNNING SHINGO SAWATARI!" the pose of boys proclaimed as they continued to point to him.

The baffled Yuya jumped down from the bunk bed and rushed to the door to get away from this odd place. "I'll be back when it's curfew," he said quickly before leaving.

Yuya sat on the steps outside of the building. He looked at the rainy outlook as the sun began to fade into a night. He smiled a bit to the beautiful sky that was a mix of bluish grays, pinkish yellows, and darks blues. He allowed himself to just stare at the sky, appreciating the beauty in it.

"And you are Yuya?"

Yuya was shaken from his thoughts and turned his head to the boy next to him. He recognized him, another person who looked just like him. He remembered this cousin from the lunch room, the one from the Fusion house. "Yes," he replied, unsure what to say.

"It is good to finally meet you, then." Yuri replied. "I am called Yuri, of the Fusion House. I see that you are from the Standard house now."

"Yeah, I am," Yuya responded, in a bit of a less friendly tone. He couldn't help it. "I remember you from earlier; you're my cousin, right?"

"It seems I am. You are familiar with the way the school houses work with the incident earlier today," Yuri replied. "You seem to be off-put." he mentioned.

"Yeah, I just don't think randomly picking fights and being meant to other people because of a stupid school houses. It's not right, you know. You seem to like it a lot though from what I saw."

"Oh, please do not tell me you're one of those kinds of people," Yuri rolled his eyes. "I should have known. Pacifist thinks the house war is stupid. Well, it's my fault everyone else is below me, even people in my house sometimes. I know when to have fun with being inferior to me,"

"I don't want to mean, especially to family I'm only now meeting," Yuya began. "But that's complete shit. People aren't meant to think of each other like that, we shouldn't be fighting, we should be smiling."

"Smiling?" Yuri smirked and laughed at that a bit. Yuya stared at him. "Oh boy, you're interesting. I was about to say that you boring and like the other Standard students, but you're different! You don't avoid the fights; you want to change them, don't you?"

"It's not right at all. Maybe one day you'll understand that, but if you continue to fight and think like that even if we're family."

Yuri sneered as he turned around and started to walk away. "Then it seems we're beginning this as enemies," he said as he left.

Yuya took a deep breath and then made a fist with his hands. "This is rubbish," he thought as first. "But I'm ready to take this damn school on. It's already one day and I'm done with this shit. I'll show them… there's nothing funny about fighting…"


End file.
